The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center (ERDAC) has a mission to identify technologies to make clean water available and address global water shortages.
In furtherance of this mission, researchers at ERDAC's Environmental Labs have sought to identify superior materials from which more durable filtration devices can be constructed. It is a problem known in the art that current water filtration devices experience rapid deterioration and quickly wear out in harsh, corrosive chemical environments and during the process of desalination.
The cost of frequently replacing filtration devices is a significant economic barrier to bringing clean water to an estimated 63 million people that currently do not have access to it.
Various attempts have been made in the art to produce more durable, longer-lasting water filtration devices. Durable metals, are not suitable for constructing thin filter membranes that do not disrupt water flow.
In contrast, graphene is a material that is thought to be the strongest, thinnest and lightest material available and which can be used to form membranes.
However, it is a problem known in the art that graphene oxide filters, although highly durable, become deformable and unstable when immersed in water while used for the production of large filtration devices. This deformation allows smaller contaminate molecules and salts to flow through the pores of the filters, rendering them ineffective.
There is an unmet need for graphene oxide filters that exhibit the strength of life cycle of graphene, but which are not vulnerable to deformation and swelling as the size of the filtration membrane is increased.